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BREAKING: Scientists Find Planets Where Life Could Have Started Just Like It Did On Earth

Scientists
have identified a whole set of planets where life could have begun just like it
did on Earth.

The
researchers found that the chances of life developing are tied to the type and
strength of light they receive from their star. And they have isolated a range
of planets that could have the same conditions, and where life might already
have begun in the same way.

The new
research suggests that if a star is giving off enough light, it could kickstart
the beginnings of life itself. The UV light appears to power a series of
chemical reactions that are central to the beginnings of life.

And there
are a range of planets that have just that amount of UV light, the researchers
say. Many of them not only have the right kind of light but are also of the
right temperature to ensure they have liquid water on their surface.

Taken
together, those planets could offer an important place to search for alien
life.

“This work
allows us to narrow down the best places to search for life,” said Dr Paul
Rimmer, a postdoctoral researcher and the paper’s lead author. “It brings us
just a little bit closer to addressing the question of whether we are alone in
the universe.”

The work
relies on research done by Professor John Sutherland, which looked for the
chemical origin of life on Earth. It found that it could have been helped by
the poison cyanide – once that is formed, it is thought to interact with
various parts of the environment including light from the sun, and create the
chemicals required to make life begin.

That was
tested out by putting those chemicals under strong UV lights, where they
generated the most basic ingredients of the chemicals needed for life.

The new
research drew on that work but looked at the exact kinds and strength of light
that was required for such interactions.

“I came
across these earlier experiments, and as an astronomer, my first question is
always what kind of light are you using, which as chemists they hadn’t really
thought about,” said Dr Rimmer. “I started out measuring the number of photons
emitted by their lamps, and then realised that comparing this light to the
light of different stars was a straightforward next step.”

They found
that stars roughly the same temperature as our sun emit the right amount of
light for the building blocks of life to form. But cooler stars do not seem to
work, and so any planets where the interactions happen will need to have the
right kind of stars.

There are
many planets that seem to fit that category, including several exoplanets found
by the Kepler space telescope. Scientists expect to find many more candidates
in the coming years, with the use of brand new space telescopes like NASA’s newly launched Tess.

It is
possible that life might have developed on entirely different planets, in its
own way, the researchers noted, but looking for life that began like it did on
Earth is the most natural step.

“I’m not
sure how contingent life is, but given that we only have one example so far, it
makes sense to look for places that are most like us,” said Dr Rimmer. “There’s
an important distinction between what is necessary and what is sufficient. The
building blocks are necessary, but they may not be sufficient: it’s possible
you could mix them for billions of years and nothing happens. But you want to
at least look at the places where the necessary things exist.”

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